How Eisenhower solved illegal border crossings from Mexico | csmonitor.com — If you read this whole thing Ike saw illegal immigration as large scale corruption that was bad for America. Times changed. We are now officially a corrupt society.
Fifty-three years ago, when newly elected Dwight Eisenhower moved into the White House, Americas southern frontier was as porous as a spaghetti sieve. As many as 3 million illegal migrants had walked and waded northward over a period of several years for jobs in California, Arizona, Texas, and points beyond.
President Eisenhower cut off this illegal traffic. He did it quickly and decisively with only 1,075 United States Border Patrol agents – less than one-tenth of todays force. The operation is still highly praised among veterans of the Border Patrol.
Although there is little to no record of this operation in Ikes official papers, one piece of historic evidence indicates how he felt. In 1951, Ike wrote a letter to Sen. William Fulbright D of Arkansas. The senator had just proposed that a special commission be created by Congress to examine unethical conduct by government officials who accepted gifts and favors in exchange for special treatment of private individuals.
17. John, where do you live? Just curious. The legal Mexicans in my town dont like it anymore than anyone else. They have gotten used to living in a clean, low crime rate area. They are a welcome part of the community. They dont want to return to Mexico, or for this town to return to Mexico. Its why they left in the first place.
As for your signs “Irish need not apply”, I remember Norfolk Va. just after the Vietnam war, in some bars would hang a sign, “No sailors or dogs allowed”.
Anyone can be discriminated against.
Wow, what a bunch of ding dongs. Immigration is wonderful. But what we are talking about is people entering this country illegally. There is a prescribed method to immigrate to this country and it needs to be followed, else, get the fuck out.
#22 – It is extremely difficult for people to get into this country legally, regardless if you’re a computer programmer, doctor, or plumber. Even to get a tourist visa has salary requirements that are above and beyond what the average foreigner earns, making it difficult for them to come visit the country they often dream about – the USA. This builds poor relations with other countries, fomenting vile anti-US sentiment in countries like Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, France.
Put yourself in an immigrant’s shoes: You’re a hard-worker with a good work ethic. You’re talented with tools and machinery, and you have a good working understanding of how things work mechanically. However, your country’s in the shitter, and there’s no work to be found. Your government is corrupt and doesn’t care less about your problems, and you can barely provide for your family.
Tell me you wouldn’t want to come to the US.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no bleeding heart liberal (hell, I’m anything but). But I am a humanist, and I can certainly see why the US is a sparkling gem compared to the countries where these people are coming from.
“This builds poor relations with other countries, fomenting vile anti-US sentiment in countries like Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, France.”
I wonder how easy it would be for an American to immigrate to these countries. Hell, go to Mexico illegaly and see what kind of welcome you get.
Actually, it’s a LOT easier for an American to go visit another country than vice-versa. They love our money.
#18 natefrog
Children have nothing to so with emergency rooms closing. It is all about poverty. Many of the illegal aliens that come here seeking a better life have few options and end up living in poverty. This is a real problem with no simple solutions.
But make fun of it if you wish. I feel sorry for you. Maybe you are so isolated from real life that you do not know what the reality is. Maybe you are just ignorant. Either way you are not worth any more of my time.
everything has a cost and a benefit. I’m all for getting rid of illegals too, but I’m not for higher prices at fast food joints, grocery stores, or any other places were this cheap labor has an effect. its this cheap labor that, for better or worse, picks our fruit. I mean, come on, haven’t you all seen the news the last couple of days, imported wheat from china laced with rat poison(accidental???) was what harmed all those pets and our nation had a hissy fit.
What if that wheat was for our (human) food supply cause there wern’t enough workers to help with the wheat crop?
I don’t know if there is a good solution that all parties can be happy with, but I do know one thing. Most Americas don’t tell their sons & duaghters that when they grow up they should go out to the fields and pick fruit for a living
#11 yeah, poor defenseless latin american countries. Boo-hoo. Keep believing in fairy tales.
Poor country. The US has the enemy within. The Americans are the only ones at fault for rationalizong stupid things like this oximoron: illegal immigration is good.
Come to think away, it’s a good thing. Start packing your things, I’m taking over your home. I count on a lot of people like the ones in this forum believing is fair for illegals to get in. Give them your homes so they stop suffering, will you?
#17 what a stupid little troll.
#23 I AM in the immigrant shoes, and what I see is that I am thinking twice about going to the US because if things keep going the way they are now, there won’t be any decent U. S. of A. to live in. All the missery from those who want the easy thing, that think everyone in the US lives like a king without doing anything is moving over there. I won;t go into the effort of migrating to be recieved by the same filth I’m trying to leave behind.
I don’t frigging care that I have to do whatever the law wants me to do to be elegible to get into the US. Those things are there to protect against turning the US into the same wasteland that latin america has turned itself into.
My country is in the shitter because my fucking “countrymen” can tell the nose from the ass. And those with some education believe they can live the “enron” way of living. No fucking future over there. You want those responsible for my shitter turn your country into another shitter? let me know well in advance, so I can save myself the aggravation.
And there never were poor relation with te US until Kuzco got into power, so piss off.
12 – Mac Guy, ref your last paragraph. Just out of curiosity, how many illegal immigrants are NOT from Hispanic countries? I know in the past Haitians have been turned back. There were also the boat people in the late-70s early-80s.
However, if you have 1 000 000 illegals immigrants per year, and 90% of them are Elbonians, why then, how the hell is it racist to talk about “Elbonian illegals”?
Steve is right, many hospitals have been shut down, due to lack of illegals paying their bills. No taxes are being paid by these illegals, yet they get free schooling, health care, etc. Most of the money they earn here in the states gets sent back to Mexico. Listen, this is a huge problem, and these rich idiots that are running this country don’t care. Make your voice heard by voting.
“John Erlichman”? An apt phonyism for a conservative who would be fascist.
The name of a man who served Nixon well while extending the number of Americans and Asians who died in the name of greed trying to perpetuate Imperial Indochina.
The 50’s were all so wonderful. Our coins were stamped with “In God We Trust” for the first time. The department of labor revealed that unemployment really shouldn’t drop below 4-5% because commerce would lose a “flexible” work force. And we all got to enjoy Loyalty Oaths to get a job.
Black folk kept striding forward regardless of pap and patrimony from the kinds of people who bankrolled both Kennedy and Nixon.
True, Democrats did have balls enough to press Eisenhower into a new record for vetoes of social legislation – and used it against Nixon in the election to follow.
And labor strife under Taft-Hartley didn’t need to be settled by scabs and cops as in earlier days – so, now, the scabs all speak Spanish.
Don’t kid yourselves my Liberal friends. Yeah, everyone is a nice guy just looking for a steady job. That includes the poor bugger who used to have the same job at higher wages.
Meat cutters earned on average $19 an hours – 20 years ago. Now, the average wage in that union is $9 an hour. You’ll have to look it up because I’m pretty confident ain’t too many commenting here earn their daily bread with bent backs.
To ALL of you that are quick to condemn anyone as a racist or bigot that dares to raise the issue of illegal immigration:
1) Should the United States have open borders, YES or NO?
1a) If you answered YES (you want open borders), how do we as a nation control the entry of illegal drugs, terrorists, diseases such as TB, and so on from entry into the country? Corollary- should we stop checking passports at airports and other points of entry?
1b) If you answered NO (you don’t want open borders), how would you control our borders? I can guarantee that the honor system doesn’t work.
Here’s a chance for all of you geniuses to put the rest of us at ease with your words of wisdom.
What part of the word “illegal” in “illegal immigration” people don’t get when even starting arguing about it. It is illegal. Period. Finito. End of discussion. If you want to discuss if immigration is good or bad, discuss changing the law to allow more of it or not. Illegal immigration is illegal, it means the law does not allow it. Period.
Though I don’t live in the States, we have the same argument here in Europe and I just don’t get it. If we reach the conclusion that we need more immigrants, let’s allow them in by law, not condon illegal immigration. How the hell can this even be a matter of discussion??
#32 – I think the US should wake up and open its borders by reinstituting centralized points of immigration. Search them as they come in, evaluate them for diseases, channel them into finding jobs (if possible – haven’t worked that one out in my head yet). The drug problem becomes easier to work with, as the drug runners will be among the few trying to sneak in across open desert and jumping the Rio Grande; everyone else will be going to the checkpoint.
#31 – For the record, “In God We Trust” first appeared on the 1864 two-cent coin.
To Pedro: Honestly, I feel for you, man. If, for some reason, you do decide to come to the US (and possibly North Carolina where the tech industry is still pretty hot), let me know. I’ll see what I can do for you (find you a nice safe place to live, show you around, buy you a beer or three).
First off I would like to thank and congratulate you for finally putting a non tech story that doesn’t bash Republicans and that has the idea right
What part of illegal dont these people understand I have no , none absolutely nada problems with legal immigration (its how we all got here ) and I actually prefer to do business with them ( they really get the American way and chance at a better life ) I am sitting in a business owned by an Indian immigrant getting my cracked windshield replaced and he has better customer service than any place Ive been today .
With that said the immigration problem is easy to solve remove the jobs (crack down hard on those who employ illegals ) The meat packing plants in Nebraska that had a crack down a few months ago had that town cleared of illegals in a day or so with only a few hundred arrests ( they went home when there was no work ) ( and had legal Americans lined up for the jobs )also on the flip side the minimum wage problem could be solved because the businesses who hire illegals would have to pay a market wage to the Americans to get them to work (capitalism at its best) so in a simple move we can fix 2 problems with out a high cost
Why cant the worlds only superpower act like one and quit kowtowing to tin horn corrupt governments like Mexico and just tell them this is how it is going to be like it or lump it
#34 Duly noted. Thanks man.
It is extremely difficult for people to get into this country legally, regardless if you’re a computer programmer, doctor, or plumber. Even to get a tourist visa has salary requirements that are above and beyond what the average foreigner earns, making it difficult for them to come visit the country they often dream about – the USA.
Agreed. But the solution is not to look the other way while people break the law – the solution is to make the law more reasonable.
And it’s wrong for one country or just a few countries to dominate immigration, at the expense of all other countries, simply because they are adjacent to the US and their people can slip across the border easily.
36. That offer extends to me too, get out of Venezuela pedro. (at least I think thats where you are).
Pedro, if you swing through the frozen tundra so many call Minnesota, I will buy you a shot of anything they got. Can’t help much with the work though. I keep biting my nails every time we have a lay off (I work as a machinest). Nice to see the parts I used to make are now stamped “Made in China”.
Geeze, I agree with so many of the usual right wingers. Maybe there is hope for ALL of us yet.
My solutions,
Fix the border.
Build a fence.
Fine any employer using illegal labor
Have the Social Security Administration / INS / IRS have a rapid response for SS number verification.
Confiscate any property accumulated by illegals. Sell that property to pay for their incarceration and deportation.
Hold all undocumented people until they are deported. Or, at a minimum, make them bond out and report periodically.
Then allow “guest workers” in to pick the fruit.